Rediscovering Lost Faces

Although the first Fayum portraits reached Europe as early as 1615, it was a wave of finds and exhibitions in the 1880s that finally stunned the art world. These ancient paintings showed a psychological depth and technical skill that upended assumptions about the history of portraiture.

Sadly, early collectors often ripped panels from mummies and threw the bodies away, destroying the archaeological context. As a result, we know frustratingly little about most of these people — their names, their work, and their stories are largely lost.